HK1183535A1

HK1183535A1 - Portable computing device including a three-dimensional touch screen

Info

Publication number: HK1183535A1
Application number: HK13110852.1A
Authority: HK
Inventors: 艾哈邁德禮薩; 艾哈迈德礼萨(礼萨)．罗福加兰; 禮薩; 马里亚姆．罗福加兰; ．羅福加蘭; 布里马．B．易卜拉欣; 馬里亞姆．羅福加蘭; 胡曼．道劳比; 布里馬．; ．易卜拉欣; 胡曼．道勞比
Original assignee: 美国博通公司
Priority date: 2011-10-25
Filing date: 2013-09-23
Publication date: 2013-12-27
Also published as: CN103076911B; TWI476642B; EP2587347A3; CN103076911A; KR101409914B1; TW201329789A; EP2587347A2; KR20130045222A

Abstract

A portable computing device includes a three-dimensional (3D) touch screen and a core module. The 3D touch screen includes a two-dimensional (2D) touch screen section and a plurality of radio frequency (RF) radar modules. The core module is operable to determine whether the 3D touch screen is in a 3D mode or a 2D mode. When the 3D touch screen is in the 3D mode, the core module is further operable to receive one or more radar signals via one or more of the plurality of RF radar modules and interpret the one or more radar signals to produce a 3D input signal.

Description

Portable computing device including three-dimensional touch screen

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/551,045 filed on 25/10/2011, U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/553,460 filed on 31/10/2011, and U.S. utility patent application No. 13/336,425 filed on 23/12/2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to communication systems and computers, and more particularly to portable computing devices.

Background

Portable computing devices include laptop computers, tablet computers, cellular telephones, video game devices, audio/video recording reproduction devices, and the like. Generally, a portable computing device includes a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an operating system, one or more user input devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, microphone), one or more user output devices (e.g., display, speakers), memory, a network card (e.g., ethernet and/or wireless local area network), and a battery.

In particular, the tablet computer includes a flat-screen touch screen, a CPU, an operating system, a WLAN transceiver, a cellular data transceiver, a bluetooth transceiver, a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receiver, memory (e.g., solid state memory), connectors, and a rechargeable battery (e.g., lithium polymer battery). Flat touch screens include capacitive touch screen technology to provide a virtual keyboard, a passive stylus (e.g., a touch selection based on the X-Y coordinates of the touch), two-dimensional touch commands (e.g., sensing the touch of one or more fingers on the screen and detecting motion in the X-Y dimension of one or more fingers), and to provide a display.

The connector connects the tablet computer to a power source to recharge the battery, to exchange data (e.g., audio files, video files, etc.) with another computing device (e.g., a Personal Computer (PC)), and/or to update its software. Additionally or alternatively, the WLAN transceiver or the cellular data transceiver may be used to update the software of the tablet computer. In addition, the bluetooth transceiver may be used to exchange data with another computing device.

Disclosure of Invention

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a portable computing device comprising: a three-dimensional (3D) touch screen, the three-dimensional touch screen comprising: a two-dimensional (2D) touch screen section; and; a plurality of Radio Frequency (RF) radar modules; and a core module to perform the following operations: determining whether the 3D touchscreen is in a 3D mode or a 2D mode; when the 3D touch screen is in the 3D mode: receiving, by one or more of the plurality of RF radar modules, one or more radar signals; and resolving the one or more radar signals to produce a 3D input signal.

The portable computing device further comprises: a wired RF link, wherein: the one or more of the plurality of RF radar modules generating one or more RF radar signals; the one or more RF radar signals are converted into one or more inbound RF link radar signals; the one or more inbound RF-link radar signals are transmitted to the core module over the wired RF-link; the core module converts the one or more inbound RF link radar signals to the one or more radar signals.

The portable computing device further comprises: a wired RF link; and a plurality of multi-mode RF units for coupling to the wired RF link, wherein the plurality of multi-mode RF units includes the plurality of RF radar modules; wherein the core module performs the following operations: communicating control information with one or more of the plurality of multi-mode RF units over the wired RF link in a first frequency band; communicate wireless communication data with one or more of the plurality of multi-mode RF units over the wired RF link in a second frequency band; and communicating clock information to the plurality of multi-mode RF units over the wired RF link in a third frequency band.

The portable computing device further comprises: the one or more of the plurality of RF radar modules generating one or more RF radar signals; one or more of the plurality of multi-mode RF units convert the one or more RF radar signals to one or more inbound RF-link radar signals, wherein the one or more inbound RF-link radar signals are communicated to the core module over the wired RF link in the second frequency band or in a fourth frequency band.

Preferably, the analyzing the one or more radar signals by the core module further comprises: generating x, y, z coordinates of an object relative to an x-y coordinate system of the 2D touchscreen portion based on the one or more radar signals; determining a motion of the object based on a change in the x, y, z coordinates of the object over a period of time; and generating the 3D input signal based on the motion.

Preferably, the plurality of RF radar modules includes: an RF radar transmit module to send an outbound RF radar signal; and a plurality of RF radar receive modules positioned within the 3D touchscreen in a grid fashion, wherein a RF radar receive module of the plurality of RF radar receive modules receives a reflection of an outbound RF radar signal reflected back from the object to generate an inbound RF radar signal.

Preferably, the plurality of RF radar modules includes: a plurality of RF radar receive antennas and a plurality of RF radar transmit antennas positioned within the 3D touchscreen in a grid fashion, wherein one or more of the plurality of RF radar transmit antennas transmit one or more outbound RF radar signals, and wherein one or more of the plurality of RF radar receive antennas receive reflections of the one or more outbound RF radar signals reflected back from the object to produce one or more inbound RF radar signals.

Preferably, the core module is further configured to perform the following operations: when the 3D touch screen is in the 2D mode: receiving a 2D signal from the 2D touch screen part; and resolving the one or more radar signals to produce a 2D input signal.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable computing device comprising: a three-dimensional (3D) touch screen, the 3D touch screen including a plurality of horizontal-to-horizontal Radio Frequency (RF) radar modules; and a core module to perform the following operations: receiving one or more RF radar signals from one or more of the plurality of horizontal-to-horizontal RF radar modules; and resolving the one or more RF radar signals to produce a 3D input signal or a two-dimensional (2D) input signal.

Preferably, the analyzing the one or more radar signals by the core module further comprises: generating x, y, z coordinates of an object relative to an origin on the 3D touchscreen surface based on the one or more radar signals; determining that the one or more RF radar signals correspond to the 2D input signal when a z-coordinate of the x, y, z-coordinates is near zero; and determining that the one or more RF radar signals correspond to the 3D input signal when the z-coordinate is not near zero.

Preferably, the analyzing the one or more radar signals by the core module further comprises: determining a motion of the object based on a change in the x, y, z coordinates of the object over a period of time; and generating the 3D input signal based on the motion.

Preferably, a horizontal-horizontal RF radar module of the plurality of horizontal-horizontal RF radar modules includes: a transceiver module to perform the following operations: generating a radar emission signal; receiving a shaped radar receive signal; a forming module for performing the following operations: shaping the radar transmit signal according to a control signal to produce an outbound radar signal; shaping an inbound radar signal in accordance with the control signal to produce a shaped radar receive signal; and an antenna structure comprising a plurality of spiral coils and an antenna, wherein, with respect to the antenna, the plurality of spiral coils provide an effective dish and wherein the effective dish antenna transmits the outbound radar signal and receives the inbound radar signal.

The portable computing device further comprises: a core module further to generate an antenna structure adjustment control signal; and the antenna structure is to adjust the effective dish shape of the plurality of helical coils in accordance with the antenna structure adjustment control signal to adjust a scan area of the horizontal-to-horizontal RF radar module.

The portable computing device further comprises: one or more horizontal-horizontal RF radar modules of the plurality of horizontal-horizontal RF radar modules, the one or more horizontal-horizontal RF radar modules to detect an object; a core module to determine whether the object is a gesturing object; and when the object is the gesturing object: the kernel module to determine x, y, z coordinates of the object relative to an origin on a surface of the 3D touchscreen; and the kernel module is to parse the x, y, z coordinates of the object to determine when a gesture of the object corresponds to the 2D input signal or when corresponds to the 3D input signal.

The portable computing device further comprises: a wired RF link, wherein: the one or more of the plurality of horizontal-to-horizontal RF radar modules generating one or more RF radar signals; the one or more RF radar signals are converted into one or more inbound RF link radar signals; the one or more inbound RF-link radar signals are transmitted to the core module over the wired RF-link; the core module converts the one or more inbound RF link radar signals to the one or more radar signals.

The portable computing device further comprises: a wired RF link; and a plurality of multi-mode RF units for coupling to the wired RF link, wherein the plurality of multi-mode RF units includes the plurality of horizontal-to-horizontal RF radar modules; wherein the core module performs the following operations: communicating control information with one or more of the plurality of multi-mode RF units over the wired RF link in a first frequency band; communicate wireless communication data with one or more of the plurality of multi-mode RF units over the wired RF link in a second frequency band; and communicating clock information to the plurality of multi-mode RF units over the wired RF link in a third frequency band.

The portable computing device further comprises: the one or more of the plurality of horizontal-to-horizontal RF radar modules generating one or more RF radar signals; and one or more of the plurality of multi-mode RF units convert the one or more RF radar signals to one or more inbound RF-link radar signals, wherein the one or more inbound RF-link radar signals are communicated to the core module over the wired RF link in the second frequency band or in a fourth frequency band.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a core module for a portable computing device, the core module comprising: a processing module; and a Radio Frequency (RF) link interface for coupling to the processing module, wherein the processing module is configured to: receiving one or more RF radar signals via one or more of a plurality of RF radar modules with the RF link interface; and resolving the one or more RF radar signals to produce a three-dimensional (3D) input signal or a two-dimensional (2D) input signal.

Preferably, the core module is further configured to perform the following operations: generating x, y, z coordinates of an object relative to an origin point on a surface of the portable computing device based on the one or more RF radar signals; determining that the one or more RF radar signals correspond to the 2D input signal when a z-coordinate of the x, y, z-coordinates is near zero; and determining that the one or more RF radar signals correspond to the 3D input signal when the z-coordinate is not near zero.

Preferably, the core module is further configured to perform the following operations: determining a motion of the object based on a change in the x, y, z coordinates of the object over a period of time; and generating the 3D input signal based on the motion.

Preferably, the core module is further configured to perform the following operations: determining whether an object is a gesturing object, wherein the one or more RF radar signals correspond to detection of the object; and when the object is the gesturing object: determining x, y, z coordinates of the object relative to an origin point on a surface of the portable computing device; and resolving the x, y, z coordinates of the object to determine when a gesture of the object corresponds to the 2D input signal or when corresponds to the 3D input signal.

Preferably, the core module is further configured to perform the following operations: determining whether a 3D touchscreen of the portable computing device is in a 3D mode or a 2D mode; and when the 3D touch screen is in the 2D mode: receiving a signal from a 2D touch screen portion of the 3D touch screen; and converting the signal to a 2D touch screen signal.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a portable computing device in a communication environment according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device using RF radar in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device using a receive antenna array in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary antenna patterns of a transmit antenna used in a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary transmit/receive antenna array used in a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example operation of a selective transmit/receive antenna array used in a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram illustrating an exemplary selective transmit/receive antenna array used in a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example operation of a selective transmit/receive antenna array used in a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device using GHz radar in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a portable computing device using a level-level RF radar in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a portable computing device using level-level RF radar in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary level-to-level radar circuit for use in a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary horizontal-to-horizontal antenna structure used in a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of another exemplary level-to-level radar circuit for use in a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method of operation of a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment for managing resources within a portable computing device, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating exemplary functions and operations of a portable computing device using a priority lookup table according to the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method of building a priority lookup table for use in a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary priority lookup table used in a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary priority lookup table used in a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a portable computing device using high speed data communication relay in a communication environment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a portable computing device providing high speed data communication relaying using repeaters in a communication environment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram of an example of a portable computing device that provides high speed data communication relaying using a repeater in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 27 is a schematic diagram of another example of a portable computing device providing high speed data communication relay using multiple sources in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 28 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method by which a portable computing device builds a priority table for a high speed data communication path in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 29 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a sealed portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 30 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary power-up operation of a sealed portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 31 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary power-on circuit used in a sealed portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 32 is a schematic diagram illustrating another power-up operation of a sealed portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 33 is a schematic diagram illustrating another power-up operation within a sealed portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 34 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a portable computing device operating with micro-cells supporting various communication schemes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 35 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a portable computing device operating with micro cells supporting various communication schemes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 36 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary patch antenna configuration of a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 37 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method by which a portable computing device supports various communication schemes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 38 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of another method by which a portable computing device supports various communication schemes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 39 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a portable computing device providing antenna diversity relaying in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 40 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a portable computing device providing antenna diversity relaying in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 41 is a schematic block diagram illustrating another embodiment of a portable computing device for receiving downloaded boot strap memory software in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 42 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a boot strap memory used in a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 43 is a schematic block diagram illustrating another embodiment of a portable computing device for receiving downloaded boot strap memory software in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 44 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method of downloading boot strap memory software to a portable computing device in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed Description

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a portable computing device in a communication environment. A portable computing device (e.g., a laptop computer, a tablet computer 10, a cellular telephone, a video game device, an audio/video recording reproduction device, etc.) may be in communication with one or more of the mobile telephone 12, the wireless headset 14, the wireless power transmitter 16, a wireless communication device 18 (e.g., a tablet computer, a keyboard, a projector, a household appliance, a printer, a personal computer, a laptop computer, etc.), a cellular network 20 (voice and/or data), a satellite network 22 (e.g., GPS, satellite radio, satellite television, satellite phone, etc.), a WLAN access point 24, and/or an entertainment device 26, either simultaneously or separately.

Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a portable computing device including a core module 28, a Radio Frequency (RF) link 30, a data link 32, a plurality of multi-mode RF units 34, one or more user I/O interfaces 36 (e.g., to interface with one or more of a three-dimensional touch screen 37, a microphone, a speaker, etc.), one or more coprocessors 38, memory 40 (e.g., cache access memory, solid state memory, etc.), and one or more peripheral device interfaces 42 (e.g., USB, headphone jack, etc.). Core module 28 includes one or more of an RF link interface 44, a data link interface 46, a wireless communication processing module 50, and an RF radar processing module 48.

Each multimode RF unit 34 includes an RF link interface 52, an RF radar circuitry module 54, and one or more radio transceivers 56, or portions thereof. One or more radio transceivers 56, or portions thereof, may support one or more wireless communication standards such as bluetooth, IEEE 802.11(WLAN), 60GHz, global system for mobile communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Local Multipoint Distribution System (LMDS), Multichannel Multipoint Distribution System (MMDS), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), WCDMA, Long Term Evolution (LTE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), extensions thereof, and/or variations thereof.

The data link 32 may include one or more of twisted wire pairs, coaxial cable, bus structures, optical fiber, and the like. For example, if the data link 32 includes one or more twisted pair wires, the communication over the twisted pair wires should conform to one or more twisted pair signaling protocols (e.g., Cat 5(10 Base-TX)&100Base-T)、Cat 5e(10Base-TX&100Base-T), Cat 6a (10GBase-T), EIA-485, secure transport protocol, I.430, controller area network, Sony/Philips digital interconnect format, etc.). As another example, if data link 32 includes one or more Bus structures (e.g., an address Bus, a control Bus, and/or a data Bus), then communications over the Bus structures should conform to one or more computer-type Bus protocols (e.g., Universal Serial Bus, peripheral component interconnect Standard (PCI), PCI Express, firewire, S-100b Bus, single Bus, VAXBI, MBus, STD Bus, SMBUS, Q-Bus, ISA, Zorro, CAMAC, FASTBUS, LPC, Precision Bus (Precision Bus), EISA, VME, VIX, NuBus, TURBO channel, MCA, SBus, VLB, I, GSC Bus, core connectivity, InifiBand, UPA, PCI-X, AGP, fastpath, HyperTransport, PC card, ExpressCard, ST-506, ESDI, SMD, parallel ATA, DMA, SSA, HIATA, MSC, Serial ATA, SCSI, serial SCSI, AoE, AToE, ATOBE, SCSI, ATB, ATI, ATB, SMB, MIDI, multibus, RS-232, DMX512-A, IEEE-488, EIA/RS-422, IEEE-1284, UNI/O, access bus, 1-line, I²C. SPI, etc.).

Devices coupled to data link 32 include a data link interface. The data link interface performs the corresponding protocol conversion to access the data link 32. Note that the devices coupled to data link 32 may include the same data link interface or different data link interfaces. For example, memory 40 may include a data link interface of a different type than the user input/output device.

The RF link 30 may include one or more of coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, wireless channels, waveguides, and the like. Devices coupled to RF link 30 include an RF link interface that performs one or more RF link protocol conversions. For example, the RF link protocol may be one of a plurality of RF link protocols representing a particular data modulation scheme, carrier frequency, channel allocation, access protocol (e.g., ethernet, FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, collision avoidance, etc.), and packet or frame formatting.

The core module 28 includes one or more processing modules and performs a variety of functions. For example, the core module 28 may execute various user applications as well as system-level applications of the portable computing device. In particular, core module 28 may execute system-level applications (e.g., an operating system) as well as user applications (e.g., a word processing application, a spreadsheet application, an address book and calendar application, a plurality of games, one or more Web browsers, email, a system installation application, a file sharing application, etc.). In executing these user applications, core module 28 may transfer one or more sub-functions to one or more coprocessors for execution therein of these user applications.

The wireless communication processing module 50 includes one or more processing modules and performs various communication-related functions. For example, when the processing module 28 is executing an application requiring wireless communication, the wireless communication processing module 50 processes the corresponding data according to one or more communication protocols (e.g., bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, cellular data, cellular voice, 60GHz, etc.). The wireless communication processing module 50 places the processed communication data on the RF link 30 for later transmission through one or more multi-mode RF units 34.

For incoming communication data, one or more multimode RF units 34 receive and convert radio signals to inbound signals according to an RF link protocol. The wireless communication processing module 50 receives the inbound signals from the RF link 30 and processes the inbound signals in accordance with the appropriate communication protocol to extract the inbound data.

The RF radar processing module 48 includes one or more processing modules and performs various radar-related functions. For example, when the core module 28 is running an application that requires three-dimensional (x, y, z) user input, the RF radar processing module 48 communicates with one or more RF radar circuitry modules 54 in the multi-mode RF unit 34 to receive respective reflected RF radar signals for use by the RF radar processing module 48 to calculate three-dimensional positions and/or three-dimensional motions/displacements of a user-controlled object (e.g., a user's finger/hand tip or stylus). The three-dimensional position and/or three-dimensional motion/displacement of the user-controlled object is then provided to kernel module 28 to determine three-dimensional user input.

To initiate three-dimensional (3D) tracking of the user-controlled object, the kernel module 28 determines that the touch screen is in 3D mode and then instructs the RF radar processing module 48 to begin the process of detecting and locating one or more user-controlled objects. Three-dimensional tracking may be automatically initiated when a particular application is running or as a result of two-dimensional user input, causing the portable computing device to enter an active mode. RF radar processing module 48 may then transmit commands to one or more RF radar circuit modules 54 via RF link 30 to transmit and/or receive RF radar signals.

In embodiments where RF radar processing module 48 directs one or more RF radar circuit modules 54 to transmit outgoing RF radar signals, each transmitting RF radar circuit module 54 generates a respective RF radar signal with or without a particular pulse repetition frequency for transmission by a respective transceiver 56 and antenna. The RF radar circuit module 54 may employ frequency modulation and/or pulse modulation in transmitting the RF radar signals. Additionally, RF radar circuitry module 54 may employ low frequency (e.g., 30-300 kHz) RF radar signals or any other frequency band up to and including very high frequency (e.g., above 100 GHz) RF radar signals.

In embodiments where RF radar processing module 48 instructs one or more RF radar circuit modules 54 to receive incoming (reflected) RF radar signals, each received RF radar circuit module 54 processes any received RF radar signal and converts the processed RF radar signal to a respective inbound signal in accordance with an RF link protocol (e.g., generates an inbound RF link signal). The RF radar processing module 48 receives inbound radar signals from the RF link interface 44 (which converts the inbound RF link signals to inbound radar signals) and processes the inbound radar signals in accordance with the appropriate communication protocol to extract data for calculating the three-dimensional position of the user-controlled object.

In one embodiment, the RF radar circuitry module 54 processes the received reflected RF radar signals to filter any unwanted signals caused by noise or interference and provides the processed RF radar signals to the RF radar processing module 48. In another embodiment, the RF radar circuitry module 54 further processes the processed RF radar signals to measure reflection time, frequency shift (doppler effect), and/or to make any other radar signal measurements and provides the radar signal measurements to the RF radar processing module 48. In yet another embodiment, the RF radar circuitry module 54 further processes the radar signal measurements to calculate position information indicative of the distance and/or angle of the RF antenna of the multi-mode RF unit 34 from the user-controlled object (e.g., the user's finger/hand tip or stylus) and provides the position information to the RF radar processing module 48.

From this location information, RF radar processing module 48 may employ triangulation techniques or trilateration techniques, for example, to determine the location of the user-controlled object relative to the plane of the portable computing unit. The core module 28 may then translate the location of the object into appropriate user input for the application. It should be understood that position information from more than four multi-mode RF units 34 may be required to accurately determine the geographic location (x, y, z) of an object above the surface of the portable computing unit. It should be further appreciated that in embodiments where the RF radar circuit module 54 processes received RF radar signals or computes radar signal measurements and provides the processed RF radar signals or radar signal measurements to the RF radar processing module 48, the RF radar processing module 48 computes radar signal measurements and/or position information for each multimode RF unit 34.

The RF link may be divided into a plurality of frequency bands. As an example, the spectrum of the RF link is divided into three bands: one for address and/or control information; the second for data and the third for a clock signal. In addition, power may be delivered to the multi-mode RF unit through the RF link at DC or at a lower AC frequency (e.g., 60 Hz). Each frequency band may be divided into a plurality of channels and may employ one or more of various multiplexed access protocols (e.g., time division multiple access, frequency division multiple access, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, etc.) to communicate data.

In this example, a low frequency band (e.g., hundreds of kilohertz to hundreds of megahertz) is used to transmit address and/or control information. The mid-band (e.g., hundreds of megahertz to tens of gigahertz) is used to transmit data (e.g., voice, text, audio files, video files, graphics, etc.) and may be used to transmit RF radar signals from the MM RF unit to the core module. High frequency bands (e.g., tens to hundreds of gigahertz) are used to transmit clock tones or modulated clock signals.

As a specific example, when the wireless communication processing module and one or more multimode RF units are to exchange control and/or address information, they are exchanged over a frequency band allocated for such communication. As another specific example, when the wireless communication processing module and one or more multimode RF units are to exchange data (or radar signals), they exchange over a frequency band allocated for data communication. As yet another specific example, the wireless communication processing module generates a clock tone and/or a modulated clock signal and transmits the clock tone and/or the modulated clock signal to the multi-mode RF unit over the RF link using a frequency band allocated for the clock. Each multimode RF unit employs a clock tone or modulated clock signal to generate one or more clocks to be used therein. As yet another specific example, the RF link radar signal may be transmitted in a fourth frequency band of the RF link, which may be above or below the second frequency band.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device. A portable computing device (e.g., a tablet computer) includes a touch screen containing a touch sensitive panel for two-dimensional user input, one or more RF radar antennas, and a corresponding radar circuit module for three-dimensional user input. The touch-sensitive panel may detect the presence of a touch (e.g., by a user's finger/hand tip or stylus) and a two-dimensional (2D) location (x, y) within the panel area. By way of example, and not limitation, the touch-sensitive panel may be a resistive touch screen panel, a surface wave touch screen panel, an infrared touch screen panel, an optical imaging touch screen panel, a dispersive signal touch screen panel, a acoustic pulse recognition touch screen panel, or a capacitive touch screen panel.

The RF radar antennas are respectively coupled to respective multi-mode RF units and may be used to transmit and/or receive RF radar signals to enable three-dimensional user input. For example, a three-dimensional touch screen may be used to position a user's finger or other user-controlled object within a near-field three-dimensional space (x, y, z) above the touch screen. For example, a coordinate system for determining three-dimensional positions may designate one corner of a 2D touch screen as having coordinates (0,0,0) (i.e., an origin), assign each pixel within the touch screen plane to a different plane (x, y) coordinate and assign the elevation (height) above the touch screen plane to a different z coordinate, such that the distance between successive elevations corresponds to the distance between successive pixels along one axis of the touch screen. Thus, the portable computing device can easily translate the three-dimensional position and motion of the user's finger or other object into three-dimensional user input.

In some implementations, the three-dimensional user input is a 3D gesture (gettrue) made by a user's finger or other object. To detect the 3D gesture, the portable computing device tracks the movement of the user's finger or other object within the three-dimensional space above the touch screen. The motion of the object can be tracked by using the doppler effect (e.g., by measuring the frequency shift between the transmit and receive frequencies) and/or by using a specific pulse repetition frequency (number of transmit pulses per unit time) to enable measurements to be made at sufficient intervals. For example, in one embodiment, the RF radar processing module may compare the current 3D position of the user-controlled object to one or more previous 3D positions of the user-controlled object to determine the distance between the positions and the direction of movement from the previous positions to the current position. The RF radar processing module may then use the distance and direction of the motion information to identify a particular 3D gesture, the particular 3D gesture corresponding to a particular 3D input signal.

Three-dimensional user input may be used in a variety of applications. By way of example, and not limitation, such applications may include 3D mapping, holographic touch imaging, or 3D interactive gaming. Additionally, three-dimensional user input may be employed in conventional two-dimensional applications to provide additional dimensions for control or to enable a user to provide input without requiring the user to physically touch a touch screen. For example, a user can touch up a photograph or drawing with a 3D gesture, darken and/or fade colors or provide more dimensionality to an image.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the multi-mode RF unit 34 may be positioned at a corner of the touch screen. Each multi-mode RF unit 34 may include one or more RF radar antennas 58. The antenna 58 may be shared for both transmit and receive operations or separate antennas 58 may be used for TX and RX.

RF radar antenna 58 may include any combination of the following designs, including: monopole antennas, dipole antennas, horn antennas, dish antennas, patch antennas, microstrip antennas, isotropic antennas, fractal antennas, yagi antennas, loop antennas, helical (helical) antennas, cone antennas, diamond antennas, J-pole antennas, log-periodic antennas, slot antennas, wound rod antennas, linear antennas, and nano-antennas. Additionally, multiple antennas 58 may be used in each multi-mode RF unit 34, and the multiple antennas 58 may be geometrically arranged such that they form a phased array antenna to transmit the outbound RF radar signal as a transmit beam in a particular direction of interest.

The particular combination of RF radar antennas 58 employed by each multi-mode RF unit 34 on the touch screen enables any object 60 within a desired scan area (e.g., the near-field three-dimensional space above the touch screen) to be detected. In one embodiment, the scan region includes the radiation pattern of each multimode RF unit 34. For example, each multimode RF unit 34 is capable of transmitting and receiving radar signals throughout the scan area. In another embodiment, each multimode RF unit 34 receives radar signals and transmits the radar signals to one or more distinct portions of the scan area without substantial overlap of radiation patterns. In yet another embodiment, some of the multimode RF units 34 have overlapping radiation patterns and some do not.

To achieve the desired scan area and overlap between the multi-mode RF units 34, each RF radar antenna may be an omni-directional antenna or a directional antenna. In embodiments where one or more of the RF radar antennas are directional antennas (e.g., phased array antennas), each directional RF radar antenna may be configured to preferentially radiate in a particular direction above the surface of the touchscreen panel. For example, an RF radar antenna positioned at coordinates (x, y, z) = (0,0,0) may be configured to radiate towards the direction of the RF radar antenna positioned at the opposite corner of the touchscreen, such that the coverage of the three-dimensional area is roughly defined by the dimensions of the touchscreen. Such an antenna configuration minimizes interference and reduces artifacts from objects located outside the three-dimensional area above the touch screen.

In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 5, a single omnidirectional RF radar transmit module 62 (which may include an antenna, an antenna interface, a power amplifier, an oscillator, and/or up-conversion mixing circuitry) may be used with an array of RF radar receive modules 64 (each of which may include an antenna, an antenna interface, a receive amplifier, an oscillator, and/or down-conversion mixing circuitry). In FIG. 5, a plurality of RF radar receiving modules 64 are positioned in an array (grid) of rows and columns beneath the panel surface (not shown) of the touch screen. In one embodiment, the antennas of RF radar modules 62 and 64 are placed above the conductive layer of the touch screen, and the transmission lines of the x-y grid are formed below the conductive layer of the touch screen. In another embodiment, the conductive layer of the touch screen contains the antenna of the RF radar and the transmission line, as discussed below in connection with fig. 11. Different configurations are also contemplated depending on the type of touch screen.

Each RF radar receiving antenna is operable to receive reflected RF radar signals reflected from objects located in a three-dimensional space above the touch screen. The row and column selectors may select rows and columns of the array to read signals received by the respective RF radar antennas, or to read out rows and/or columns in the array 64 sequentially or in whole. In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 5, the antenna of module 64 is coupled to a transmission line to provide a received RF radar signal to a receive amplifier 66 (or a separate amplifier) dedicated to the particular row or column (of module 64) in which the antenna is located. Each receive amplifier 66 may be coupled to a respective receiver and RF radar circuit, or a single receiver and RF radar circuit may be used for all antennas. In the latter case, the antennas may be read separately, so that the receiver processes each received RF radar signal in sequence. Other configurations are also contemplated, such as using one receiver for two or more rows or columns. Note that a single RF radar circuit may also be coupled to multiple receivers.

In another embodiment, each RF radar receiving antenna may be coupled to a respective receiver within the array such that the receiver is coupled to a transmission line and the output of the receiver is read out of the row/column and into one or more RF radar circuits. The RF radar receiver may be selected for reading by the RF radar circuit using a polling/addressing mechanism, or the receiver may be assigned a particular time slot using TDMA or the like to transmit the received signal to the RF radar circuit. An omni-directional RF radar transmit antenna may transmit RF radar signals at a single frequency or multiple frequencies. If multiple frequencies are used by the RF radar transmit antenna, different RF radar antennas/receivers may be configured to receive different frequencies to enable multiple receivers to be read simultaneously on the same transmission line.

In yet another embodiment, instead of using x-y grid transmission lines, multiple data path buses may be used to provide the respective receive paths from each RF radar antenna/receiver to the RF radar circuitry. Other variations are possible for the RF radar receive antenna array.

For example, the omni-directional antenna may be a dipole antenna or a monopole antenna. Fig. 6 shows an example of a dipole antenna transmission pattern 70. The antenna 68 may be positioned to provide maximum transmission in three-dimensional space above the touch screen.

In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, an array of RF radar transmit/receive antennas may be used. In one embodiment, each antenna is in either a transmit mode or a receive mode, such that at any given time a particular RF radar antenna neither transmits nor receives. However, in embodiments where the doppler effect is used to measure the velocity/motion of a user-controlled object, the RF radar antenna may be a continuous wave radar antenna transmitting an unmodulated or modulated continuous wave radar signal, and thus, the RF radar antenna may be configured to transmit and receive substantially simultaneously.

The RF radar antennas may also be selected individually or on a row/column basis to facilitate the intended transmission and/or reception of RF radar signals. An exemplary timing diagram for sample operation of the selected transmit/receive antenna array of fig. 7 is shown in fig. 8. At an initial time (t 1), the RF radar antennas in column 1 may be switched to a transmit mode by enabling transmission line TxC1, such that the RF radar antennas in column 1 transmit respective RF radar signals. Then, at a subsequent time (t 2), all antennas may be switched to receive mode by activating transmission lines RxR1, RxR2 and RxR3 so that all antennas receive the respective RF radar signals after reflection. Then, at time t3, the RF radar antennas in column 2 may be switched to a transmit mode by activating TxC2, so that the RF radar antennas in column 2 transmit respective RF radar signals. Then, at time t4, all antennas may be switched into receive mode again by activating transmission lines RxR1, RxR2 and RxR3 so that all antennas receive the respective RF radar signals after reflection.

Fig. 9 is a circuit diagram of an exemplary selection of transmit/receive antenna arrays. Each antenna A1-A4 is coupled to a respective select transistor T1-T4. The select drivers 72S1-S3 correspond to row selectors that allow each row of antennas, or a single antenna in that row, to be selected for transmission or reception along each column of transmission lines, depending on the signals present on the transmission lines 74 Tx/Rx. For example, referring now to the schematic diagram of FIG. 10, antenna A1 is selected to transmit by activating transmission line Tx1 and driver S1, while turning off drivers S2 and S3 and transmission lines TX2 and TX 3. After transmission through antenna a1, driver S1 may be activated again to enable antenna a1 to receive the reflected RF radar signal.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device 76. In FIG. 11, an array of transmit/receive RF radar antennas is incorporated into the conductive layer of a capacitive touch screen such that row/column electrical lines are shared by the RF radar antennas and the touch screen capacitor 78. In one embodiment, the touch screen operates in an RF radar mode or a capacitive mode. The RF radar mode may be automatically disabled when a change in capacitance is detected or when a user may manually initiate or disable the RF radar mode. In another embodiment, the touch screen may be operated in both the RF radar mode and the capacitive mode. For example, some applications may enable a user to enhance 2D capacitive touch commands with 3DRF radar gestures.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a three-dimensional touch screen of a portable computing device. In fig. 12, RF radar transmitting antenna 80 transmits RF radar signals in the GHz range. In one embodiment, the RF radar signal may be anywhere in the GHz range. In other embodiments, the RF radar signal is between 5GHz and 100 GHz. An RF radar receiving antenna 82 is located at a corner of the touch screen to measure reflected RF radar signals reflected back by an object 60 located above the touch screen. Since radar signals in the GHz range are at least partially absorbed by the human body, in some embodiments, reflected RF radar signals received by RF radar receiving antenna 82 may be used to construct a three-dimensional image of user-controlled object 60 (e.g., a user's finger or hand tip).

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a portable computing device 76 that uses horizontal-horizontal (horizon) RF radar to provide a three-dimensional user input touch screen. In FIG. 13, instead of including a separate touch sensitive panel for providing two-dimensional user input, display screen 86 includes horizontal-horizontal RF radar circuitry 84 that can detect two-dimensional and three-dimensional user input and generate corresponding input signals. In the exemplary embodiment, level-to-level RF radar circuits 84 in respective multi-mode RF units are located at the corners of display screen 86, with each level-to-level RF radar circuit 84 including a respective Tx/Rx radar antenna for transmitting and receiving RF radar signals. Horizontal-to-horizontal RF radar circuitry 84 generates RF radar signals that are transmitted to and above the level of display screen 86 so that not only user-controlled objects located in three-dimensional space above display screen 86 may be detected, but also contact (i.e., touch) with display screen 86. Thus, the horizontal-horizontal RF radar display screen can effectively function as a touch screen.

The antenna structure of the horizontal-to-horizontal RF radar circuit 84 may be constructed, for example, using a non-magnetic metal-dielectric photonic crystal to create an artificial magnetic conductor. For example, alternating current sheets may be stacked in a photonic crystal to create a strong magnetic dipole density for a particular frequency band. In an exemplary embodiment, a Projection Artificial Magnetic Mirror (PAMM) fabricated using such stacked photonic crystals is included in the antenna structure to function as an electric field mirror for an RF radar antenna within a particular frequency band, as described in more detail below in connection with fig. 16.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a portable computing device using horizontal-horizontal RF radar. The portable computing device includes a core module 28, a Radio Frequency (RF) link 30, a data link 32, a plurality of multi-mode RF units 34, one or more user I/O interfaces 36 (e.g., one or more of a flat-panel touch panel, a microphone, a speaker, etc.), one or more coprocessors 38, memory 40 (e.g., cache memory, main memory, solid-state memory, etc.), and one or more peripheral device interfaces 42 (e.g., USB, headphone jack, etc.), as described above in connection with fig. 2. Core module 28 includes one or more of an RF link interface 44, a data link interface 46, a wireless communication processing module 50, and an RF radar processing module 48, also as described above in connection with fig. 2.

Each multimode RF unit 34 includes an RF link interface 52, horizontal-to-horizontal RF radar circuitry 84, and one or more radio transceivers 56, or portions thereof. Each horizontal-to-horizontal RF radar circuit 84 includes an antenna structure that utilizes artificial magnetic conductors to transmit RF radar signals along a surface of the portable computing device and in a three-dimensional space above a display screen of the portable computing device such that the RF radar signals are reflected back by objects in contact with the display screen of the portable computing device and objects located in a near-field three-dimensional space above the display screen of the portable computing device. In this manner, the level-to-level RF radar circuit 84 causes the position of the user-controlled object to be resolved to a two-dimensional position on the display screen or a three-dimensional position above the display screen. Note that communication between the core module and the MM RF unit is performed in a manner similar to that discussed in the embodiment of fig. 2.

FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary level-to-level RF radar circuit 84 used within the portable computing device. Level-to-level RF radar circuitry (radar circuitry) 84 includes one or more radar devices and a processing module 88. The radar apparatus includes an antenna structure 90 comprising a Projection Artificial Magnetic Mirror (PAMM) (as previously described), a shaping module 92 and a transceiver module 94.

The processing module 88 may be a single processing device or a plurality of processing devices. Such a processing device may be a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of the circuitry and/or operational instructions. The processing module 88 may have associated memory and/or memory elements, which may be a single memory device, multiple memory devices, and/or embedded circuitry of the processing module 88. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device that stores digital information. Note that if processing module 88 includes more than one processing device, the processing devices may be centrally located (e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless bus structure) or may be distributively located (e.g., cloud computing coupled indirectly via a local area network and/or a wide area network). It is further noted that when the processing module 88 implements one or more of its functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the memory and/or memory elements storing the corresponding operational instructions may be embedded within, or external to, the circuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry.

In an example of operation, the radar circuit 84 is used to detect location information about objects in its scan area 96 (e.g., a level-horizontal area associated with a display screen of a portable computing device). The position information may be represented in two-dimensional terms (e.g., zero or near zero (e.g., millimeters to centimeters) in the z-component of the x, y, z coordinate system) as well as three-dimensional terms and may vary over time (e.g., velocity and acceleration). For example, the relative position information may include a distance between the object and the radar circuit and/or an angle between the object and the radar circuit.

The radar circuit may detect objects and determine location information in various frequency bands in a variety of ways. The radar circuit may operate in the 60GHz band or any other frequency band in the range of 30MHz-300GHz to meet the needs of a particular application, depending on coverage optimization and system design goals.

The position information may be determined using radar circuitry when the radar device is operating in different modes including Continuous Wave (CW) transmission, pulsed transmission, separate Transmit (TX) and Receive (RX) antennas, and a common Transmit (TX) and Receive (RX) antenna. The radar device may operate under the control of the processing module 88 to configure the radar device to operate according to an operating mode.

For example, in a pulse transmission mode, the processing module 88 sends control signals 98 to the radar device to configure the mode and operating parameters (e.g., pulse transmission, 60GHz band, separate Transmit (TX) and Receive (RX) antennas, working with other radar devices). The control signals 98 include operating parameters for each of the transceiver module 94, the shaping module 92, and the antenna module 90. The transceiver 94 receives the control signal 98 and configures the transceiver 94 to operate in the 60GHz band in the burst transmit mode.

The transceiver module 94 may include one or more transmitters and/or one or more receivers. The transmitter may generate an outbound wireless signal 100 based on the outbound control signal 98 from the processing module 88. Outbound control signals 98 may include control information for operating any portion of the radar device and may contain outbound messages (e.g., timestamps) embedded within outbound radar signals 104. Note that the time stamp may facilitate determination of location information for CW or pulsed modes.

In this example, the transceiver 94 generates a pulsed transmission mode outbound wireless signal 100 and sends the signal to the shaping module 92. Note that the pulse transmission mode outbound wireless signal 100 may include a single pulse and/or a series of pulses (e.g., a pulse width of less than 1 nanosecond per millisecond to 1 time every few seconds). Outbound radar signal 104 may include a timestamp message of when the transmission was made. In an embodiment, the transceiver 94 converts the timestamp messages into an outbound symbol stream and converts the outbound symbol stream into outbound wireless signals 100. In another embodiment, the processing module 88 converts the outbound message into an outbound symbol stream.

The shaping module 92 receives the control signal 98 (e.g., from the processing module 88 in an initial step) and is configured to operate with the antenna module 90 using separate Transmit (TX) and Receive (RX) antennas. The shaping module 92 generates one or more transmit shaped signals 102 for the antenna module 90 based on the outbound wireless signals 100 from the transceiver 94 and based on the operating parameters of the one or more outbound control signals 98 from the processing module 88 and/or the operating parameters from the transceiver 94. The shaping module 92 may generate the one or more transmit shaped signals 102 by differently adjusting the amplitude and phase of the outbound wireless signal 100 for each of the one or more transmit shaped signals 102.

The antenna structure 90 transmits outbound radar signals 104 through the display screen 86 that creates a transmission pattern based on the operating parameters and patterns within the scan area 96. The antenna structure 90 may include one or more antennas. The antennas may be shared for both transmit and receive operations.

The radar device receives an inbound radar signal 104 through the antenna structure 90, which is formed by an outbound radar signal partially reflected, refracted, and absorbed by objects within the scanning area 96. The antenna structure 90 transmits the inbound radar signal 104 to the shaping module 92 as a shaped signal 102. The shaped signal 102 may be generated by the inbound radar signal 104 impinging on one or more antennas comprising the antenna structure 90 (e.g., an array). For example, the amplitude and phase may differ slightly between elements of the phased array.

The shaping module 92 generates one or more inbound wireless signals 100 for the transceiver 94 based on one or more received shaped signals 102 from the antenna structure 90 and operating parameters from one or more processing modules 88 and/or the transceiver 94. The shaping module 92 may generate one or more inbound wireless signals 100 by differently adjusting the amplitude and phase adjustments of the one or more receive shaped signals 102 for each of the one or more receive shaped signals 102.

In one embodiment, the radar device transceiver 94 generates the inbound control signal 98 based on the inbound wireless signal 100 from the shaping module 102. The inbound control signal 98 may include operational parameters, inbound wireless signal parameters (e.g., amplitude information, timing information, phase information), and a state of an inbound message decoded from the inbound wireless signal 100. The transceiver 94 converts the inbound wireless signal 100 into an inbound symbol stream and converts the inbound symbol stream into an inbound message (e.g., to decode the time stamps). In another embodiment, the processing module 88 converts the inbound symbol stream into an inbound message.

The processing module 88 determines position information about the object based on the inbound radar signals 104 received by the radar device. In particular, the processing module 88 may determine the distance to the object based on the time stamp and the time the inbound radar signal 104 was received by the radar device. Since radar signal 104 travels at the speed of light, the distance can be easily determined.

The transceiver module 94 and/or the processing module 88 may later send updated operating parameters to the shaping module 92 to change the pattern of the receive antenna array before transmitting the next outbound radar signal 104. The determination may be based on a predetermined list or may be based in part on an analysis of currently received information (e.g., tracking a receive antenna pattern toward an object, where the pattern provides a higher amplitude inbound wireless signal 100).

The above process may be repeated until the radar apparatus generates an inbound radio signal peak for the corresponding receive antenna array pattern. The processing module 88 may then determine an angle of arrival of the inbound radar signal 104 based on the receive antenna array settings (e.g., shaping module operating parameters and deployed antennas).

Note that the transceiver 94, shaping module 92, and antenna structure 90 may be incorporated into one or more radar device integrated circuits operating at 60 GHz. In this manner, the compact package more readily facilitates integration into a portable computing device for facilitating applications such as tracking the movement of a player of a gaming console.

Where a PAMM is included, the antenna structure 90 may have a full horizontal-to-horizontal scan, thereby substantially eliminating blind spots of the radar system on objects near the horizontal plane (e.g., substantially avoiding radar detection by flying under the radar). This is achieved because the PAMM substantially eliminates surface waves of conventional antenna structures that are primarily used for signals with large angles of incidence (e.g., greater than 60 degrees). In the absence of surface waves, even airborne beams with incident angles close to 90 degrees can be detected.

Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary horizontal-to-horizontal antenna structure 106 used within a portable computing device. Antenna structure 106 is an adjustable effective array of dish antennas 108 that includes one or more antennas 110 and a plurality of adjustable coils 112 that form a Projection Artificial Magnetic Mirror (PAMM). Each adjustable coil 112 includes an inner winding portion, an outer winding portion, and coupling circuitry (e.g., MEMS switches, RF switches, etc.). The winding portions may each comprise one or more turns and have the same length and/or width or different lengths and/or widths.

To adjust the characteristics of the coil 114 (e.g., inductive coupling, reactive coupling, resistive coupling, capacitive coupling with other coils and/or with the metal backing plate 116), the winding portions may be coupled in parallel, in series, or may be used as separate coils.

With the inclusion of the adjustable coil 114, the PAMM may be adjusted to operate at a different frequency band. For example, in a multi-mode communication device operating in two frequency bands, the PAMM of the antenna structure 106 (or other circuit structure [ e.g., transmission line, filter, inductor, etc.) is adjusted to correspond to the frequency band currently being used by the communication device.

In the present example shown in FIG. 16, the shape of the effective disk 108 may change in response to a control signal from the core module. Alternatively, the focal point 118 of the effective dish 116 may be changed. The particular configuration of tunable effective dish 116 may be driven by a particular application. The control unit parses the particular application and generates control signals to configure the tunable effective dish 116 as desired.

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of another exemplary level-to-level radar circuit 48 used within a portable computing device. As shown in fig. 17, the horizontal-to-horizontal RF radar circuit (radar circuit) 84 includes one or more radar devices and a processing module 88. The radar apparatus comprises an antenna structure 90 comprising a Projection Artificial Magnetic Mirror (PAMM); a shaping module 92 and a transceiver module 94. In FIG. 17, the antenna structure 90 is adjustable to adjust the horizontal-to-horizontal scan area 120 so that the coverage of the three-dimensional area is roughly defined by the x-y dimensions of the touch screen. For example, in one embodiment, the antenna structure 90 may be a tunable effective antenna array of dishes, as shown in fig. 16. However, in other embodiments, other antenna structures 90 may be used to adjust the scanning zone 120 of the level-to-level radar apparatus. Such adjustments may also be made by adjusting the shaped signal 102 generated by the shaping module 92.

FIG. 18 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method of operation of a portable computing device that begins with an RF radar processing module determining whether an object has been detected by an RF radar (122). For example, the RF radar processing module may receive input from one or more RF radar circuits indicative of an object detected by the RF radar. If so, the method continues with determining whether the object is a gesturing object (e.g., a user-controlled object such as a finger, hand, or stylus) (124). If so, the RF radar processing module determines the location (three-dimensional (x, y, z) coordinates) of the gesturing object (126).

In embodiments using level-to-level radar, the RF radar processing module then determines whether the gesturing object is located on the display surface (128). If so, the processing module parses the x, y coordinates of the gesturing object to determine the particular command or other user input (130). If the gesturing object is not on the display surface, the method continues with the RF radar processing module tracking the motion of the gesturing object using one or more mechanisms (e.g., Doppler tracking and position tracking) (132). The method then continues by determining whether the motion corresponds to a particular command or other user input (133). If so, the method continues with the processing module resolving the motion to determine a particular command or other user input (134).

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of managing resources within a portable computing device 76. The portable computing device 76 includes a power, time, and configuration management module 136 that optimizes resources within the portable computing device 76 to serve users 142 that may perform three-dimensional gestures; one or more external devices 138 that communicate wirelessly with the portable computing device 76 and internal peripheral devices that require access to various resources. For example, various internal peripherals (e.g., internal peripherals that provide IEEE 802.11144 access to the external/peripheral, cellular 146 access to the external/peripheral, and USB 148 access to the external/peripheral) may require resources of wireless communication processing module 140 to communicate with one or more external/peripheral devices.

The management module 136 may utilize hardware switches, software, and/or reprogrammable firmware to configure and/or activate various circuits within the processing module and/or one or more multimode RF units. Thus, the management module 136 may turn off circuits that are not needed at a particular time to reduce their power consumption. In addition, the management module 136 determines which circuits to start and at what levels (e.g., supply voltage, clock rate, data rate, etc.) for the various applications being run. One or more embodiments and/or examples of managing resources of the portable computing device 76 will be discussed in one or more of the following figures.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary functions and operations of a configurable portable computing device. In fig. 20, the portable computing device 76 is configurable based on the particular application running on the portable computing device 76. For example, various device features, application features, and wireless communication features may be enabled or disabled. The portable computing device 76 may be preconfigured, automatically configured, and/or user configurable for a particular application.

To prevent reconfiguration each time a particular application is run, the portable computing device 76 may maintain a user interface priority lookup table 150 for one or more applications on the portable computing device 76. For example, the user interface priority lookup table 150 may be configured for use with a cellular telephone application, an internet access application, a gaming application, a book reading application, and any other application on the portable computing device 76. Each user interface priority lookup table 150 maintains user interface preferences for a particular application to enable the portable computing device 76 to efficiently manage the usage of resources while the application is running. The preferences may be set by the user 142 or may be automatically populated based on the application, portable computing device 76, and/or network settings. Examples of user interface preferences include display (audio/video) preferences, control preferences, and user characteristics.

For example, the portable computing device 76 may automatically discover one or more external devices (e.g., the external display device 152 and/or the speaker 154) via wired and/or wireless plug-and-play operations. The audio/video components typically transmitted/displayed by the internal speakers/displays of the portable computing device 76 may be switched or mirrored to the external display device 152 and/or speakers 154 when a particular application is executed. The portable computing device 76 may automatically select the particular external display device 152 and/or speaker 154, or may cause the user 142 to select the particular external display device 152 and/or speaker 154. Priority lookup table 150 may indicate whether external display device 152 and/or speakers 154 are enabled for the application, the identity of external display device 152 and/or speakers 154, and the type of connection used to communicate with each external display device 152 and/or speakers 154. A single external display device 152 and/or speaker 154 may be included in the priority table 150, multiple display devices 152 and/or speakers 154 may be indicated in the priority table 150 for simultaneous use, or a list of display devices and/or speakers ranked according to user preference or location may be set in the priority lookup table 150.

May communicate with external display device 152 and/or speakers 154 via a wired connection and/or one or more wireless connections. For example, as shown in FIG. 20, the portable computing device 76 uses a Bluetooth wireless connection for the audio component and control commands and a 60GHz wireless connection for the video component. The portable computing device 76 and the external display device 152 may be a bluetooth and 60GHz wireless connection, or the speaker 154 may have its own bluetooth transceiver to communicate solely with the portable computing device 76. The priority lookup table 150 is populated with data indicating that a bluetooth wireless connection is used for the audio component and a 60GHz wireless connection is used for the video component.

The priority lookup table 150 may also include control preferences indicating the type of control (user input device) to the application. In FIG. 20, various user input devices within the portable computing device are used to control functions 156. More specifically, a trackball or trackpad is used for some control functions 156, RF radar is used for three-dimensional joystick functions, and a mouse is used for other control functions 156.

The portable computing device 76 and/or application program may also contain software that "learns" the user's characteristics (preferences, behavior, etc.) during execution of the particular application program. For example, as shown in FIG. 20, for game application #1, user 142 is easy to stroke, uses more guns or missiles and considers sound or video more important. These user characteristics are stored in the priority lookup table 150 and then converted into application and/or portable computing device settings to maximize the user's experience in playing games (or executing other applications). For example, if sound is more important to the user, the portable computing device 76 may select a surround sound speaker in the location of the portable computing device 76 to transmit sound, and if visual more important to the user, the portable computing device 76 may select an internal speaker or an intermediate channel of a television in the location of the portable computing device 76 to transmit sound.

Note that other user interface preferences may also be included in the priority lookup table 150. Additionally, multiple tables may be created for each application such that a separate lookup table 150 is provided for each user 142, for one or more application modes, for different periods of the day or different days of the week, or other application usage. Further, priority levels may be assigned among the tables of the application such that a particular priority lookup table 150 is the application's default priority table and other priority tables 150 are not used unless the user 142 requests use or other factors indicate that a different priority table 150 should be used.

Priority levels may also be assigned to the priority lookup table 150 for different application types. For example, the priority lookup table 150 may indicate that cellular communications are preferred over Wi-Fi communications for wireless communications. Thus, the portable computing device 76 may first search for a cellular network to connect to the wireless telephone and, if a cellular network fails to be found, search for a Wi-Fi network. Additionally, a separate priority lookup table 150 may be created that prioritizes applications concurrently running on the portable computing device 76. For example, the priority lookup table 150 may indicate that a cellular telephone call is preferred over a gaming application. In this way, resources may be allocated to those applications that are most important (and therefore have the highest priority).

FIG. 21 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method of building a priority lookup table for use in a portable computing device that begins with an application-specific default lookup table that may be populated with preferences to create an application-specific modified priority lookup table 158. The method proceeds to determine an application type for the application (160) and to specify the application type for the priority lookup table 172. The method proceeds to assign a particular user or default user and any user characteristics to the priority lookup table 172 (162). Based on the application type and the user associated with the priority lookup table and any additional user input, the method proceeds to determine user interface control preferences for the application (164). Next, audio (166) and video (168) preferences for the application are specified, followed by any communication device preferences (e.g., Wi-Fi, cellular, etc.) (170). Note that additional preferences may also be specified for the priority lookup table depending on the application and the intended use of the portable computing device when running the application. The specified preferences are entered into a priority lookup table and stored for any subsequent execution of the application. Preferences can be modified at any time based on user input or changes in device/application/network settings.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary priority lookup table used in a portable computing device. The default priority lookup table 174 for a particular application may be provisioned with the application or may be determined by the portable computing device based on the application/device/network settings. For example, as shown in FIG. 22, the default priority lookup table 174 for game #1 indicates that a Bluetooth wireless connection is used for control commands, an internal speaker in the portable computing device is used for audio, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connection is used for video, a mouse (user input device) is used for control functions and user features are not listed.

The default priority lookup table 174 may be automatically modified (e.g., based on history (selections/input by the user while playing the game), other applications running concurrently, and/or user experience or user input) to generate an updated priority lookup table 176. For example, the default priority lookup table 174 may be modified to indicate that a Bluetooth wireless connection is used for control commands and audio, a 60GHz wireless connection is used for video, various input devices (track ball or pad, three-dimensional RF radar, and mouse) are used for control functions and use several user features.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary priority lookup table used in a portable computing device. The priority lookup table shown in fig. 23 represents the priority 178 of a particular application. For example, a cellular phone application may override an internet application, while an internet application overrides a gaming application, and a gaming application overrides a music playing application. Thus, when multiple applications are running simultaneously, the portable computing device may use the priority lookup table 178 to determine which applications have higher priority for use of the resource.

FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a portable computing device 180 and/or 182 that utilizes high speed data communication relays in a communication environment. In embodiments where the portable computing device utilizes very high frequencies (e.g., the 60GHz Wi-Fi band) for wireless communication with another communication device, signals transmitted between the devices may be blocked by obstructions in the transmission path. For example, a user is playing a game on a portable computing device, and one of the multi-mode RF units may be configured to wirelessly communicate (over a 60GHz link) picture elements of the game to a television for display on the television, while one or more other multi-mode RF units are configured as 3D RF radars to provide joystick (controller) functionality for the game. If another person (who may be another participant in the game) is located between the portable computing device and the television, that person may at least partially block the transmission of the 60GHz video signal from the portable computing device to the television, possibly resulting in an interruption of the game.

When there is a barrier 184 that prevents a direct (line of sight) path between devices, the devices may search for an indirect (or relay) path that causes the 60GHz signal to be reflected by a nearby surface 186 to bypass the barrier 184. However, at such extremely high frequencies, the signal is not easily reflected by multiple surfaces. Thus, to increase the signal strength at the receiver 182, a reflective surface (e.g., a metal surface 186) may be used to facilitate reflection of the signal and effectively provide a relay path located near the barrier 184. Additionally, the transmit and receive antennas may be further configured (i.e., to adjust their transmit and/or receive radiation patterns) to direct transmitted signals to metallic surface 186 and to receive signals reflected by metallic surface 186 using beam steering or beam forming 188 techniques.

As an example of operation, the core module detects a barrier that adversely affects high speed data communications (e.g., 60GHz communications). Such detection may be made by determining a lower received signal strength indication, a missing inquiry response, etc. When an obstruction is detected, the core module determines whether the replacement of the radiation pattern of the high speed data communication reduces negative effects on the high speed data communication (e.g., whether the transmit signal and/or the receive signal can be controlled to be around the obstruction).

The core module enables the replacement of the radiation pattern (e.g., sending a control signal regarding changing the radiation pattern) when the replacement of the radiation pattern for the high speed data communication will reduce the negative impact on the high speed data communication. Note that changing the radiation pattern may include adding and/or deleting MM RF elements from one or more MM RF elements, including beamforming operations, power boosting, alternative directions of the radiation pattern, and the like. Upon receiving an indication of the substitution of the radiation pattern, the one or more multimode RF units adjust at least one of transmission and reception of the high speed data communication in accordance with the substitution of the radiation pattern. For example, adjusting the radiation pattern of the shared transmit/receive antenna, adjusting the radiation pattern of the transmit antenna, and/or adjusting the radiation pattern of the receive antenna.

In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 25, high speed data communication relaying may be implemented using a repeater 190 instead of a reflective surface, or using both a repeater and a reflective surface. The repeater 190 may be a stand-alone repeater or another communication device that functions as a repeater. For example, as shown in fig. 26, the portable computing device 76 may include a multi-mode RF unit, wherein a phased array antenna may be used to form a beam toward the repeater 190 to enable wireless communication between the portable computing device and a television, while one or more obstructions (e.g., the user 142) are present between the portable computing device 76 and the television 194. For example, the repeater 190 may be positioned on a ceiling 196 in a room containing the portable computing device 76 and the television 194.

In another example, as shown in fig. 27, high speed data communication relaying may be implemented with multiple relay sources. In a communication environment where one or more repeaters 190 and/or one or more reflective surfaces 200 are available, the portable computing unit 76 may select from available repeating sources to transmit and receive signals from another communication device (television) 194. Each relay source provides a path between the portable computing device 76 and the television 194, and the portable computing device 76 can save information on each path, including the direct path, in the internal memory 198 for use in selecting one of the paths for a particular communication. For example, the portable computing device 76 may attempt to first communicate with the television 194 using the direct path and switch to an available relay path by controlling the phased array antenna to be directed toward a particular relay source upon determining that one or more obstructions are present in the direct path. The relay paths may be prioritized according to quality (e.g., bit error rate, signal-to-noise ratio, or other quality measure) and/or signal strength magnitude.

Fig. 28 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method for a portable computing device to construct a priority table for a high speed data communication path that begins with the portable computing device setting coordinates of a phased array antenna to establish direct wireless communication with another communication device (202). The method continues with the portable computing device scanning (204) a signal received in a desired frequency range (e.g., a very high frequency band) through a direct path

If a significant signal is received (205), the method continues with the portable computing device recording the coordinates of the direct path, the signal amplitude, and the quality of the received signal (206). If not, the method continues with the portable computing device determining whether all coordinates have been scanned (208), and if not, incrementing the coordinates and repeating the scan to record the coordinates of the possible relay paths, as well as the respective signal amplitudes and qualities (210). Once all coordinates are scanned, the method continues with the portable computing device sorting all recorded coordinates by magnitude/quality to create a list of coordinates from high magnitude/high quality to low magnitude/low quality (212). After creating a list of alternatives including radiation patterns for a plurality of high speed data communications, the core module may select one of the alternatives as a radiation pattern based on a desired level of communications (e.g., a desired bit error rate, a desired transmit power, etc.).

Fig. 29 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a sealed portable computing device 174. The sealed (air-tight) portable computing device 174 has no passive buttons, connectors, or switches, which reduces the cost of the portable computing device. In addition, sealing the portable computing device extends the useful life and reliability of the device by minimizing or eliminating exposure of the internal circuitry to water vapor and other undesirable substances. Since there is no apparent button to turn the device on, other power-up mechanisms may be used. By way of example, and not limitation, such power-up mechanisms may include vibrating the device, touching the device (the device sensing touch or heat), or tilting the device.

Additionally, the portable computing device 214 may be configured to receive wireless power to charge the portable computing device without a connector coupling the portable computing device to a power source. For example, the portable computing device 174 may include a wireless power receiver (or battery) wirelessly coupled to, for example, a charging cradle or a resonant inductive charger; and a wireless power conversion module operating with a wireless power conversion tone or a wireless power conversion frequency band. If a wireless power conversion tone is used, a DC-DC converter may be provided to generate one or more supply voltages from the wireless power receiver and also to generate a wireless power conversion signal at a frequency corresponding to the wireless power conversion tone. For example, the wireless power conversion signal may correspond to a reduced voltage in a secondary winding of a transformer in the DC-DC converter. The power conversion signal may be transmitted throughout the portable computing device and over the RF link to the multi-mode RF unit.

If a wireless power conversion band is used, one or more DC-DC converters may generate multiple wireless power conversion signals at different frequencies. Each wireless power transfer signal may correspond to a different voltage level or may be generated separately for different modules in the portable computing device 174. For example, each of the plurality of wireless power conversion signals within the wireless power conversion band may be transmitted to each of the multi-mode RF units.

Fig. 30 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary power-up operation of the sealed portable computing device 214. In fig. 30, two mercury switches 218 are included within portable computing device 214. The mercury switch 218 allows or interrupts the flow of current in the power-on circuit in a manner that depends on the alignment of the switch with respect to the direction of gravitational pull of the earth. For example, one mercury switch 218 may sense when the device 214 is facing up (display surface 216 side up), and another mercury switch 218 may sense when the device 214 is facing down (display surface 216 side down). To initiate the power-on circuit of the portable computing device 214, two mercury switches 218 need to be turned on. Thus, the user must have the portable computing device 214 face down and then face up to power on the portable computing device 214. Note that mercury switch 218 may be oriented in portable computing device 214 to require different sequential positions of portable computing device 214 with respect to gravity (i.e., open one side then open the other side). In other embodiments, a single mercury switch 218 or multiple mercury switches 218 may be used to power up the device 214.

FIG. 31 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary power-on circuit used in a sealed portable computing device. Power-up circuit 220 includes mercury switches 218SW1 and SW2, transistors M1 and M2, capacitors C1 and C2, resistors R1 and R2, battery Vbatt 226, and active touch sensor 222. The two mercury switches 218SW1 and SW2 are installed in the portable computing device such that the device must be turned on in one direction (i.e., face down) and then turned on in the other direction (i.e., face up) to turn on transistors M1 and M2. If the switches SW1 and SW2 are turned on for a short time (determined by the RC constant), then the gates of M1 and M2 should be close to ground to power the power up circuit 220. The active touch sensor 222 is activated 224 when the resistors R1 and R2 are discharging the capacitors C1 and C2 to the battery Vbatt 226, allowing the user to initiate a final power-up command. The active touch sensor 222 may be located on the frame of the portable computing device or may be part of a touch screen on a display. By requiring the user to actively power the device by touching the power-on sensor, accidental powering of the portable computing device due to simple movement of the device is prevented.

FIG. 32 is a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary power-up operation of the sealed portable computing device 214. Instead of using a mercury switch, one or more accelerometers 228 are included in the portable computing device 214 to detect when the device is jarring or rolling. The low-power accelerometer 228 may be used to minimize power consumption of the accelerometer 228 when the device 214 is not in use. To prevent accidental power up and/or provide device security, one or more touch sensors may be activated to confirm power up, as shown in fig. 31. For example, after the device is shaken or scrolled, the user is presented with a screen that requires a particular sequence of touches to be made on the device display to power the device 214.

FIG. 33 is a schematic diagram illustrating another power-up operation within the sealed portable computing device 214. In FIG. 33, a thermoelectric generator (TEG) 230 is included in the portable computing device 214 to power the device 214. TEG 230 is a thermoelectric touch device that converts heat applied by a user's fingertip or thumb into electrical energy. The current generated by the TEG 230 is applied to the first power up circuit 232 to power the active touch sensor 238. When the user touches the active touch sensor 238, a wake-up signal 236 is provided to the second power-on circuitry 234 to power the processing module and other components of the portable computing device 214. In other embodiments, the power-up circuit 232, powered by the TEG 230, directly powers the portable computing device 214 without the use of the active touch sensor 238.

Fig. 34 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a portable computing device operating in a microcell mode supporting various communication schemes. The multi-mode RF unit of the portable computing device may support a multi-cell/smart phone or other communication device 240 (e.g., an 802.11 enabled laptop or other portable computing device 242). For example, in one embodiment, the portable computing device may configure a multi-mode RF unit (MMRFU 1) to operate in accordance with a particular cellular communication scheme (e.g., global system for mobile communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), or wideband CDMA (wcdma) 244) to facilitate voice calls between the cellular phone 240 and a cellular phone tower (base station) 248. As such, the portable computing device may function as a micro-or femtocell that provides cellular telephone service for a restricted area.

In addition, the portable computing device may also configure additional multi-mode RF units (MMRFU 2 and MMRFU 3) to operate in accordance with the selected cellular communication scheme to utilize multiple antennas to communicate with the base station, thereby providing antenna diversity 246. Antenna diversity 246 may improve signal reliability by mitigating multipath fading, which may be beneficial in areas where signal reliability is generally poor.

In another embodiment, the portable computing device may configure a multimode RF unit to support an 802.11 communication session for WLAN-enabled services. In this embodiment, the portable computing device functions as a micro-or femtocell that provides WLAN access to a restricted area. In either embodiment, once the portable computing device subscribes to a service provider (mobile phone or WLAN), the portable computing device is able to provide cellular phone or WLAN services to communication devices that are not subscribed to that particular service provider.

Fig. 35 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a portable computing device operating in a microcell mode supporting various communication schemes. One or more multimode RF units (MMRFU 4) may include a large patch antenna 250 to provide sufficient power to communicate with a remote cellular base station 252 or a LAN wireless router. A smaller patch antenna may be used in the other multi-mode RF unit (MMRFU 1) to facilitate short range communication with the communication device 254 using, for example, bluetooth, 802.11 or Near Field Communication (NFC).

Fig. 36 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary patch antenna structure for a multi-mode RF unit in a portable computing device. The patch antenna structure includes a patch antenna 256 coupled to a transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) switch 258. When operating in a transmit mode, the patch antenna 256 provides inbound RF signals to a multi-mode RF unit (MMRFU 4) through a Tx/Rx switch 258 and a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) 260. When operating in a receive mode, outbound signals are provided from the MMRFU 4 to the patch antenna 256 through a Power Amplifier (PA) 262 and Tx/Rx switch 258.

Figure 37 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method for a portable computing device to support various communication schemes that begins with the portable computing device scanning to determine if a GSM service provider is available (264). If available, the method continues with the portable computing device participating with a GSM service provider (i.e., registering with a GSM base station) (270) and supporting voice calls or data communications between the wireless communication device and the GSM base station (272). If not, the method continues with the portable computing device determining whether a WLAN service provider is available (266). If so, the method continues with the portable computing device registering with the WLAN service provider (270) and supporting voice calls or data communications between the wireless communication device and the WLAN (272). If not, the method continues with the portable computing device scanning for any other available wireless service providers (268). If another wireless service provider is found, the portable computing device registers with the wireless service provider (270) and supports voice calls or data communications between the wireless communication device and the wireless service provider (272). If no other wireless service provider is found, the method is repeated.

Fig. 38 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of another method for a portable computing device to support various communication schemes that begins with the portable computing device accessing a list (N =0 … N = N) that includes cellular telephone service providers supported by the portable computing device (274). The portable computing device then indexes (n = 1) on the first entry in the table (276) and scans for signals from a first cellular telephone service provider associated with the first entry (i.e., GSM) (278). If no signal is found, the method continues with determining whether N = N (280). If not, the portable computing device increments n to determine the next cellular telephone service provider in the table (276) and scans for signals from the next cellular telephone service provider (278). The method is repeated until an available cellular telephone service provider is found and the portable computing device registers with the available cellular telephone service provider (282).

Fig. 39 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a portable computing device 284 that provides antenna diversity relaying. As described above, antenna diversity reduces multipath fading, thereby improving signal reliability, which results in fewer dropped calls. In embodiments where multiple multi-mode RF units are configured to communicate with the cellular telephone tower 254, the portable computing device 284 may support cellular telephone voice/data calls between the wireless communication device 286 (i.e., a cellular telephone) and the cellular telephone tower 252 using antenna diversity relaying. The cellular phone 286 may communicate wirelessly with the portable computing device 284 through one multimode RF unit (MMRFU 3), and the portable computing device 284 may communicate with the cellular phone tower 254 through two or more additional multimode RF units (MMRFU 1, MMRFU 2, and MMRFU 4). Thus, the portable computing device 284 can relay transmissions between the cellular telephone 286 and the portable computing device 284 using multiple antennas between the portable computing device 284 and the cellular telephone tower 254 to improve signal reliability between the cellular telephone tower 254 and the locations of the portable computing device 284 and the cellular telephone 286.

In one embodiment, the cellular telephone 286 and the portable computing device 284 may communicate using a cellular telephone communication scheme (e.g., GSM, 3G, 4G, LTE, etc.) of the cellular telephone tower 254. In another embodiment, the cellular telephone 286 and the portable computing device 284 may communicate using a short-range communication scheme (i.e., bluetooth), while the portable computing device 284 and the cellular telephone tower 254 communicate using a cellular telephone communication scheme of the cellular telephone tower 254.

Communications between the cellular phone 286 and the cellular phone tower 254 are relayed through the portable computing device 284 as shown in fig. 40. Cellular telephone 286 includes a processing module 288, an RF section 290, and an antenna 292. The processing module 288 performs digital transmitter functions to process the outbound data in accordance with a particular wireless communication scheme to generate an outbound digital signal. Digital transmitter functions may include, but are not limited to, cryptographic coding (scrambling), encoding, constellation mapping, and/or modulation. The outbound digital signals are provided to a digital-to-analog converter (not shown) to convert the outbound digital signals from the digital domain to the analog domain to produce outbound analog baseband (or low intermediate frequency) signals. The RF section 290 up-converts the outbound analog baseband signal into an RF signal, and a Power Amplifier (PA) 294 in the RF section 290 amplifies the RF signal to generate an outbound RF signal. The outbound RF signals are provided to the antenna through Tx/Rx switch 298 for transmission to the portable computing device 284.

The processing module 288 of the cellular telephone 286 further performs digital receiver functions to extract data from the inbound signal according to the particular wireless communication scheme used between the cellular telephone 286 and the portable receiving device 284. For example, digital receiver functions may include, but are not limited to, demodulation, constellation demapping, decoding, and/or decryption. The inbound signals are first received by the antenna 292 and then provided to the RF section 290 through a Tx/Rx switch 298 and a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) 296 to down-convert the inbound RF signals to inbound baseband (or low intermediate frequency) signals. The inbound baseband signals are converted from the analog domain to the digital domain to produce digital receive formatted data that is provided to the processing module 288.

In the portable computing device 284, inbound RF signals are received from the cellular telephone 286 through an antenna 300 coupled to a first multimode RF unit (MMRFU 3). The MMRFU 3 is configured to operate in accordance with a particular communication scheme (e.g., GSM, LTE, bluetooth, 802.11, etc.) employed by the communication link between the cellular telephone 286 and the portable computing device 284. The MMRFU 3 includes one or more low noise amplifiers and/or one or more inbound RF bandpass filters. If included, the inbound RF bandpass filter filters the inbound RF signal, which may then be amplified by the low noise amplifier.

The amplified inbound RF signals are provided to a receiver section that, in conjunction with the RF link interface 302, converts the inbound RF signals conforming to the selected wireless communication scheme of the cellular telephone 286 into inbound RF link signals. The receiver portion may perform up-conversion processing or down-conversion processing to adjust the carrier frequency of the inbound RF signal to that of the inbound RF link signal, which is output onto the RF link 304 through the RF link interface 302. Note that each MMRFU may include multiple receiver (and transmitter) sections, each configured for a particular wireless communication scheme.

The inbound RF link signal is transmitted over the RF link 304 to the processing module 310 where it is provided to the wireless communication processing module 306 through the RF link interface 302 of the processing module 310. The wireless communication processing module 306 performs digital receiver functions to extract data from the inbound RF-link signals according to the particular wireless communication scheme employed between the cellular telephone 286 and the portable computing device 284. The wireless communication processing module 306 then processes the data according to the wireless communication scheme of the cellular telephone tower 254 (i.e., by performing various digital transmitter functions) to generate an outbound digital signal. By way of example, and not limitation, various digital transmitter functions may include encryption coding, puncturing, coding, interleaving, constellation mapping, modulation, spreading, frequency hopping, beamforming, space-time block coding, space-frequency block coding, frequency-domain to time-domain conversion, and/or digital baseband to intermediate-frequency conversion. Additionally, the digital transmitter function may further include converting the outbound data into a single outbound symbol stream for single-input single-output (SISO) communications and/or multiple-input single-output (MISO) communications, and converting the outbound data into multiple outbound symbol streams for single-input multiple-output (SIMO) and/or multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications.

The outbound digital signals are also processed through an RF link interface 302 for transmission to one or more multi-mode RF units through an RF link 304. For example, the outbound digital signal may be upconverted or downconverted to a particular frequency to produce an outbound RF link signal. In addition, the outbound RF link signal includes a header portion that identifies one or more multi-mode RF units to be further processed on the outbound RF link signal. In one embodiment, the outbound digital signal may be transmitted in one or more data packets using an ethernet protocol, an anti-collision protocol, and/or another shared medium protocol. In another embodiment, channels on the RF link 304 may be allocated for transmitting outbound digital signals to one or more multi-mode RF units. The assignment of the RF link channels may be a static assignment and/or a dynamic assignment. For example, for each multi-mode RF unit supporting communication, a particular type of communication (e.g., WLAN access, cellular telephone voice, cellular telephone data, bluetooth, 60 GHz) may be statically assigned to one or more channels, and another type of communication may be dynamically assigned to one or more channels.

Each multimode RF unit receives the outbound digital signal from the RF link 304 through the RF link interface 302 and, after any necessary conversion through the RF link interface 302, parses the signal to determine whether to further process the outbound signal. When the multi-mode RF unit is to further process the outbound signals, it configures itself according to the selected wireless communication scheme to convert the outbound signals into one or more outbound RF signals for transmission to the cellular telephone tower 254. By transmitting the outbound digital signals to multiple MMRFUs, antenna diversity 308 may be used to extend the range of the outbound RF signals and improve reliability.

FIG. 41 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a portable computing device for receiving download boot strap (boost) memory software. In fig. 41, each multimode RF unit 34 is coupled to or includes a respective bootstrap memory 312. In addition, the wireless communication protocol module 50 is also coupled to the respective bootstrap memories 312. Each bootstrap memory 312 contains the bootstrap software for the respective communication scheme and the protocol/standard associated therewith. In the exemplary embodiment, each boot strap memory 312 is a non-volatile memory.

To easily update the bootstrap software in each bootstrap memory 312, the new bootstrap memory software may be downloaded into the portable computing device from any number of sources (e.g., the internet, other portable computing devices, home/office networks, wireless hard drives, etc.) through one of the multimode RF units 34. The multimode RF unit 34 receiving the new bootstrap memory software transfers the new bootstrap memory software to the processing module 28 through the RF link interface 52 and the RF link 30. After receiving the new bootstrap memory software, the processing module 28 stores the software in the bootstrap memory 312 coupled to the wireless communication processing module 50, and after restarting, instructs the wireless communication processing module 50 to output the new bootstrap software to all of the multimode RF units 34 for storage in the respective bootstrap memory 312.

FIG. 42 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a boot strap memory for use in a portable computing device. The boot strap memory for the wireless communication processing module 314 is partitioned for RF link interface software updates 316 and processing updates (i.e., any RF wireless standard) 318. The multimode RF unit bootstrap memory 320 is also partitioned for RF section software updates 320, RF link interface software updates 322, and process updates 324 (i.e., any RF wireless standard). Each time the portable computing unit is restarted, the wireless communication processing module 314 and each multimode RF unit 320 loads the latest bootstrap software from the respective bootstrap memory. The previous software version may be stored in the hard disk of the portable computing device.

FIG. 43 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a portable computing device for receiving downloaded boot strap memory software. In fig. 43, the boot strap memory is located on the portable computing device's hard disk 326 and is accessible to the wireless communications processing module 50 via the data link 32 and each multimode RF unit 34 via the RF link 30 and the data link 32. In this embodiment, the RF link interface software is hard coded to ensure that no updates or changes are made to the RF link interface software.

FIG. 44 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of a method of downloading boot strap memory software to a portable computing device that begins with the portable computing device determining whether new boot strap software is available (328). If not, the method times out for a predetermined time (i.e., hours/days) before repeating (330). If so, the method continues with the portable computing device downloading new bootstrap software via the multimode RF unit for storage in the central bootstrap memory (332).

The method then continues with the portable computing device requesting the user to reboot the portable computing device or automatically reboot the portable computing device (334). During the reboot (336), the portable computing device determines whether new wireless communication processing module (WCP) bootstrap software is stored in a bootstrap memory (338). If so, new bootstrap software is configured for the wireless communication processing module (340). The method then continues with the portable computing device determining whether new multimode RF unit (MMRFU) bootstrap software is stored in the bootstrap memory (342). If so, the wireless communication processing module transfers the new MMRFU software to the local memory of the MMRFU via the RF link (344) and configures the new software for the MMRFU (346).

As used herein, the terms "substantially" and "approximately" provide an industry-acceptable tolerance of their corresponding items and/or correlations between items. Such industry-accepted tolerances range from less than 1% -50% and correspond to, but are not limited to, component values, integrated circuit process variables, temperature variables, rise and fall times, and/or thermal noise. This correlation between items ranges from a few percent difference to an order of magnitude difference. As also used herein, the terms "operatively coupled to," "coupled to," and/or "coupled to" include direct couplings between items and/or indirect couplings between items through intermediate items (e.g., items include, but are not limited to, components, elements, circuits, and/or modules), where for indirect coupling, the intermediate items do not modify signal information but may adjust its current level, voltage level, and/or power level. As further used herein, inferred coupling (i.e., when one element is coupled to another element by inference) includes direct coupling and indirect coupling between two items in the same manner as "coupled to". As further used herein, the term "available to" or "operatively coupled to" indicates that an item includes one or more electrical connections, inputs, outputs, etc. to perform one or more of its respective functions upon startup, and may further include speculative couplings to one or more other items. The term "associated with …" as further used herein includes direct and/or indirect coupling of an item alone and/or one item embedded in another item. The term "advantageously compares," as used herein, means that a comparison between two or more items, signals, etc., provides a desired relationship. For example, a favorable comparison may be achieved when the desired relationship is that signal 1 is an order of magnitude greater than signal 2, when signal 1 is an order of magnitude greater than signal 2, or when signal 2 is an order of magnitude less than signal 1.

As also used herein, the terms "processing module," "processing circuit," and/or "processing unit" may be a single processing device or a plurality of processing devices. Such a processing device may be a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of the circuitry and/or operational instructions. The processing module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit may be or may further include memory and/or integrated storage elements that may be a single storage device, multiple storage devices, and/or embedded circuitry of another processing module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device that stores digital information. It is noted that if the processing module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit includes more than one processing device, the processing devices may be centrally located (e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless bus structure) or may be distributively located (e.g., indirectly coupled cloud computing via a local area network and/or a wide area network). It is further noted that if the processing module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit implements one or more of its functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the memory and/or memory elements storing the corresponding operational instructions may be embedded within or external to the circuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry. It is further noted that the memory elements may store, and the processing modules, processing circuits, and/or processing units may execute, hard-coded and/or operational instructions corresponding to at least a portion of the steps and/or functions illustrated in one or more of the figures. Such memory devices or memory elements may be included in the finished product.

The invention has been described above with the aid of method steps illustrating the performance of specific functions and relationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functional building blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternate boundaries and sequences may be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships are appropriately performed. Any alternative boundaries and sequences are thus within the spirit and scope of the claimed invention. Furthermore, the boundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined for the convenience of the description. Alternative boundaries may be defined so long as certain significant functions are appropriately performed. Similarly, flow diagrams are arbitrarily defined herein to illustrate some of the important functions. To the extent used, the flow diagram boundaries and sequence are otherwise defined and still perform some significant function. Such alternative definitions of functional building blocks and flow diagram blocks and sequences are, therefore, within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art will also appreciate that the functional building blocks and other illustrative blocks, modules, and components herein may be implemented as illustrated using discrete components, application specific integrated circuits, a processor executing appropriate software, etc., or any combination thereof.

The present invention has also been described, at least in part, in terms of one or more embodiments. Embodiments of the present invention are used herein to illustrate the invention, an aspect thereof, features thereof, concepts thereof and/or examples thereof. The physical embodiments of the apparatus, article, machine and/or process that embody the invention may include one or more aspects, features, concepts, examples, etc., described with reference to one or more embodiments discussed herein. Furthermore, embodiments may incorporate the same or similarly named functions, steps, modules, etc. that may use the same or different reference numbers between figures, and as such, the functions, steps, modules, etc. may be the same or similar functions, steps, modules, etc. or may be different functions, steps, modules, etc.

Although the transistors in the above figures are shown as Field Effect Transistors (FETs), one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the transistors may be implemented using any type of transistor structure, including, but not limited to, bipolar transistors, Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs), N-well transistors, P-well transistors, enhancement mode transistors, depletion mode transistors, and zero Voltage Threshold (VT) transistors.

Unless explicitly stated to the contrary, in any of the figures provided herein, signals to, from, and/or between elements may be analog or digital signals, continuous or discrete time signals, and single-ended or differential signals. For example, if the signal path is shown as a single-ended path, it also represents a differential signal path. Similarly, if the signal path is shown as a differential path, it also represents a single-ended signal path. Although described herein with respect to one or more particular architectures, other architectures may likewise be implemented using one or more data buses, direct connections between elements, and/or indirect couplings between other elements that are not explicitly shown, as will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art.

The term "module" is used in the description of the various embodiments of the invention. The modules include processing modules, functional blocks, hardware, and/or software stored in memory for performing one or more functions, as described herein. It is noted that if the modules are implemented in hardware, the hardware may operate independently and/or in conjunction with software and/or firmware. As used herein, a module may contain one or more sub-modules, each of which may be one or more modules.

Although specific combinations of features and functions are described herein, other combinations of features and functions are also possible. The invention is not limited to the specific examples disclosed herein and explicitly incorporates these other combinations.

Claims

1. A portable computing device, comprising:

a three-dimensional touch screen, the three-dimensional touch screen comprising:

a two-dimensional touch screen section; and;

a plurality of radio frequency radar modules; and

a core module to perform the following operations:

determining whether the three-dimensional touch screen is in a three-dimensional mode or a two-dimensional mode;

when the three-dimensional touch screen is in the three-dimensional mode:

receiving, by one or more of the plurality of radio frequency radar modules, one or more radar signals; and is

The one or more radar signals are resolved to produce a three-dimensional input signal.

2. The portable computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a wired radio frequency link, wherein:

the one or more of the plurality of radio frequency radar modules generating one or more radio frequency radar signals;

the one or more radio frequency radar signals are converted into one or more inbound radio frequency link radar signals;

the one or more inbound radio frequency link radar signals are transmitted to the core module over the wired radio frequency link;

the core module converts the one or more inbound radio frequency link radar signals to the one or more radar signals.

3. The portable computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a wired radio frequency link; and

a plurality of multi-mode radio frequency units for coupling to the wired radio frequency link, wherein the plurality of multi-mode radio frequency units comprises the plurality of radio frequency radar modules;

wherein the core module performs the following operations:

communicating control information with one or more of the plurality of multimode RF units over the wired RF link in a first frequency band;

communicating wireless communication data with one or more of the plurality of multimode RF units over the wired RF link in a second frequency band; and is

Communicating clock information to the plurality of multimode radio units over the wired radio link in a third frequency band.

4. The portable computing device of claim 3, further comprising:

one or more of the plurality of multi-mode radio frequency units convert the one or more radio frequency radar signals to one or more inbound radio frequency link radar signals, wherein the one or more inbound radio frequency link radar signals are communicated to the core module over the wired radio frequency link in the second frequency band or in a fourth frequency band.

5. The portable computing device of claim 1, wherein the core module to parse the one or more radar signals further comprises:

generating x, y, z coordinates of an object relative to an x-y coordinate system of the two-dimensional touchscreen portion based on the one or more radar signals;

determining a motion of the object based on a change in the x, y, z coordinates of the object over a period of time; and

generating the three-dimensional input signal based on the motion.

6. A portable computing device, comprising:

a three-dimensional touch screen comprising a plurality of horizontal-to-horizontal radio frequency radar modules; and

a core module to perform the following operations:

receiving one or more radio frequency radar signals from one or more of the plurality of level-to-level radio frequency radar modules; and

the one or more radio frequency radar signals are analyzed to generate a three-dimensional input signal or a two-dimensional input signal.

7. The portable computing device of claim 6, wherein the core module to parse the one or more radar signals further comprises:

generating x, y, z coordinates of an object relative to an origin on the three-dimensional touch screen surface based on the one or more radar signals;

determining that the one or more radio frequency radar signals correspond to the two-dimensional input signal when a z-coordinate of the x, y, z-coordinates is near zero; and

determining that the one or more radio frequency radar signals correspond to the three-dimensional input signal when the z-coordinate is not near zero.

8. The portable computing device of claim 6, wherein a horizontal-horizontal radio frequency radar module of the plurality of horizontal-horizontal radio frequency radar modules comprises:

a transceiver module to perform the following operations:

generating a radar emission signal;

receiving a shaped radar receive signal;

a forming module for performing the following operations:

shaping the radar transmit signal according to a control signal to produce an outbound radar signal;

shaping an inbound radar signal in accordance with the control signal to produce a shaped radar receive signal; and

an antenna structure comprising a plurality of spiral coils and an antenna, wherein, with respect to the antenna, the plurality of spiral coils provide an effective dish and wherein the effective dish transmits the outbound radar signals and receives the inbound radar signals.

9. The portable computing device of claim 6, further comprising:

one or more of the plurality of horizontal-to-horizontal radio frequency radar modules to detect an object;

a core module to determine whether the object is a gesturing object;

and

when the object is the gesturing object:

the kernel module is to determine x, y, z coordinates of the object relative to an origin on a surface of the three-dimensional touch screen; and is

The kernel module is to parse the x, y, z coordinates of the object to determine when a gesture of the object corresponds to the two-dimensional input signal or when corresponds to the three-dimensional input signal.

10. A core module for a portable computing device, the core module comprising:

a processing module; and

a radio frequency link interface for coupling to the processing module, wherein the processing module is configured to:

receiving, with the radio frequency link interface, one or more radio frequency radar signals via one or more of a plurality of radio frequency radar modules; and is